McGruber writes: Washington Post reporter (and Cmdr Taco's coworker) Cecilia Kang is reporting (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/facebook-triples-lobbying-budget-eyes-white-house/2012/07/23/gJQAodvo4W_blog.html) that "Facebook tripled its lobbying efforts in the second quarter of the year, spending nearly $1 million to influence Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and White House on their positions regarding online privacy and child safety protection."

However, FB has spent far less than Google, "which spent nearly $4 million in lobbying during the same period".... and both Facebook and Google have lobbying budgets that are a fraction of the size of telecom heavyweights AT&T and Verizon.